The defending champ opened with a 7-under 65 and is in a three-way tie with Tom Hoge and Tyler Duncan.

He moved to the top of the betting board at +750, but nine guys have odds of 20-1 or better, so this tournament is still pretty wide open.

None of our plays went too low on Thursday. Ollie Schniederjans and Talor Gooch are at 2-under, and Kevin Na is 1-under.

I really like Ollie heading into Friday for a three-ball play over Brian Davis and John Rollins. Davis is a bad putter who was hot in the first round, and John Rollins is one of the worst players on tour. This is a really good spot for a much better player who will be looking for a low round heading into the weekend.

I’m also looking at a smaller bet on JJ Spaun over Bud Cauley and Matt Every. Spaun played well but didn’t make a putt. He’s a West Coast guy, though, and I expect him to bounce back. Cauley is a scary player, but Every on Poa is likely going to be a non-factor. I see it as plus money on Spaun in what at worst is a 50/50 spot against Cauley.

We’re still waiting for lines to be posted on this, but I’ll have a double unit play on Ollie and a standard bet on Spaun. Keep an eye out on Twitter for the final bet.

Joshua has spent the last five years writing about sports and the last 10 years betting them, mostly on golf. He’s one of approximately five people who will watch the PGA over the NFL in November. Follow him on Twitter @JoshuaPerry22